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New Education 

In the Church Series 



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W. FlDDIAN MOULTON, M.A. 
Si. John's College, Cambridge 



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W. FIDDIAN ifaoULTON, M.A. 






St. John's College, Cambridge 




MEADVILLE, PENNA : 

FLOOD AND VINCENT 
€bt Cbautauqua-tjCenturp ptz$$ 

1895 



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Copyright, 1895 
By Flood & Vincent 



The Chautauqua-Century Press, Meadville, Pa., U. S. A 
Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by Flood & Vincent. 



PREFACE. 

By Professor R. G. Moulton, of the University 
of Chicago. 

I have been requested to say a few words 
as preface to this little book, written by my 
nephew, on the Bible as literature. The 
title is a wide one : but I think the writer is 
well advised in confining himself to the side 
of literary treatment most urgently required 
in the case of sacred literature, and explain- 
ing, with as much clearness as the brief 
limits permit, the chief forms of literature 
contained in the Bible and Apocrypha. 

The question is often asked, What is ex- 
actly meant by the term ' ' literary study ' ' in 
application to Scripture ? There can be no 
better way of answering this question than to 
take a specific portion of the Bible, and 
illustrate the literary treatment in compari- 
son with other and familiar modes of study. 

Let the reader refresh his memory by 
reading the twenty-fourth psalm. He will 
feel no difficulty in understanding how this 



iv Preface. 

portion of Scripture would be handled by the 
religious or theological student. The psalm 
would be read through as a devotional exer- 
cise, perhaps with responsive reading. Again, 
the early verses would make a text for a 
sermon on purity as a condition for worship ; 
the later verses might be applied to the cele- 
bration of an article of the creed — the Ascent 
of Christ into Heaven. 

Another treatment of the psalm would be 
the historic analysis, now usually associated 
with the "higher criticism." A critic of 
this order would, in the case of the twenty- 
fourth psalm, be especially struck with the 
break in the poem at the end of the sixth 
verse, by which the two halves of the psalm 
seem totally dissimilar in matter and style. 
With his special bias to find the solution of 
all difficulties in historic considerations, the 
' ' higher critic ' ' would lay down that we 
have here, not one psalm, but two : the later 
verses having the dramatic form that sug- 
gests poetry of an early age, the first six 
verses exhibiting the reflective style of later 
literature ; while the combination of the two 
in one must be the mistake of some trans- 
criber or editor. 

The purely literary student would have a 



Preface. v 

purpose different from either of the two de- 
scribed so far. He would approach the 
psalm with the inquiry, Where are we to 
place this in a classification of literary forms ? 
Is it epic, lyric, dramatic, or what ? A little 
study would lead him to classify both por- 
tions of the psalm with " Occasional Odes," 
or better, as "Anthems." Having got so 
far, he would naturally ask whether the 
difference between the two anthems might 
not be explained by their connection with 
varying portions of some ceremonial occa- 
sion. This occasion is easily found in the 
Inauguration of Jerusalem by David, when 
the ark was escorted in solemn procession 
from its resting place in the hill country to 
the newly captured fortress (2 Samuel vi.). 
The first six verses make an anthem to be 
sung as the procession halts at the foot of 
the hill on which the city stands ; hence the 
relevancy of its inquiry, ''Who shall ascend 
into the hill of the Lord? " The latter part 
of the psalm is the crowning anthem of the 
ceremony, performed in front of the ancient 
gates of the fortress. Hence its military and 
dramatic form : a summons of the city to re- 
ceive its King, answered by a challenge of 
the warders from within. 



vi Preface. 

Army — Lift up your heads, O ye gates, . . . 

That the King of Glory may come in. 
Warders — Who is the King of Glory ? 

Thus the two anthems that make up the 
psalm fit into the two parts of the day's 
ceremonial, as a key fits into the wards of a 
lock. 

Why is it that this ' ' literary study of the 
Bible" is only just now coming to be a 
prominent topic of discussion ? The answer 
is simple. The literary character of Holy 
Scripture has always been familiar to those 
who read in the Hebrew and Greek, but 
the English reader was excluded from it 
until the publication of the Revised Version. 
The Authorized Version is full of beauty, 
but its beauties are all of single verses. Its 
translators thought of little beyond giving 
readers stores of "good words"; its un- 
intelligent division into chapters and verses 
makes a monotony of form under which all 
literary structure — of songs, sonnets, dra- 
matic dialogue, essay, discourse — lies buried; 
when the reader of this translation desires to 
understand the connectedness of thought, he 
must go to the original languages to find out 
what his English version means. Accord- 
ingly, to the great majority of readers, the 



Preface. vii 

Bible is no more than isolated verses, isolated 
texts : as if the Bible were a divine scrap- 
book. The Revised Version makes it possi- 
ble for a mere English reader to go through 
the book oijob, and by himself follow all of its 
drift and turns of argument ; in the historical 
books the Revised Version makes clear to 
his eye when Moses or Balaam breaks out 
into poetry ; even in Solomon' s Song he can 
see that he is reading poetic dialogue. 
Whether it is wholesome even in religious 
study to rest upon texts apart from context 
is a serious question. But it is a certainty 
that the reader who desires to appreciate the 
literary beauty of the Bible must do his 
reading in the Revised Version. 

R. G. Moulton. 



INTRODUCTION. 

For this brief account of the literary aspect 
of the Bible no better motto, perhaps, can be 
selected than Lord Macaulay's celebrated say- 
ing that the Bible is a ' ' well of English, pure 
and undefiled " ; for in these words lies the 
recognition, by one who was himself one of 
the very greatest masters of the English 
tongue, that the Bible has a literary as well 
as a religious raison d'itre. And this may 
well be the case without impairing in the 
slightest degree its supreme position as the 
keystone of the Christian religion. Not once, 
nor twice, but times without number have 
men come to this well to draw, and have found 
one sitting there who has spoken to them, as 
man never spake, concerning God, and life, 
and duty ; and they, who came only to drink 
of this well of English undefiled, have gone 
away with their thirst quenched with the 
Water of Life. There is involved, therefore, 
no conflict between the literary and the spirit- 
ual study of the Bible : for all genuine study, 
from either standpoint, must result in in- 



x Introduction. 

creased appreciation of its spiritual value; 
and the same method of study which is es- 
sential for a true appreciation of its literary- 
beauty — namely, consecutive and compre- 
hensive study, as opposed to concentration 
upon isolated texts — is equally essential for 
the full understanding of its spiritual teach- 
ing. When this is adopted, the Bible will be 
realized to be at the same time a storehouse 
of religious instruction and a library of liter- 
ary masterpieces. In it there are contained 
specimens of all the fundamental types of 
literature which we are accustomed to recog- 
nize to-day, and moreover the types are to 
be found in their highest expression. This 
will become more clear if I sum up concisely 
the subject matter of the Bible, and then pro- 
ceed to show how all the various literary types 
within its limits serve to illustrate and en- 
force its central facts. 

The Bible is the record of the dealings of 
God with one small section of the human 
race, which He had selected as the medium 
for His revelation of Himself to the race. 
This purpose necessarily involves the record- 
ing of yet more primitive times before the 
differentiation of this family had taken place; 
but the whole record is shaped with this 



Introduction, xi 

end in view, and whatever is said concern- 
ing other races is only introduced in so 
far as it bears upon the fortunes of the 
chosen people. The development of that 
people is traced through the successive 
stages of patriarchal, theocratic, and mon- 
archic government ; until after a long and 
checkered period of probation they reach 
the point at which the time is ripe for the 
final consummation of the revelation up to 
which everything has tended in the long and 
varied past, and with that revelation, in the 
person of the Messiah and in the teaching of 
his immediate followers, the Bible closes. 

Such is, in very brief terms, the central 
historical framework upon which the sacred 
writings hang, and which in their turn they 
elucidate and verify ; to use another figure of 
speech, if the above historical record of the 
Bible be the stem of the tree, then the rest of 
the Scriptures are the branches and the 
leaves, in vital connection with the stem, and 
contributing beauty and completeness to its 
growth. Take, for instance, the book of 
Genesis, where there are eleven chapters of 
chronicle, containing just two or three epi- 
sodes told in detail, followed by thirty-nine 
chapters dealing with patriarchal authority 



xii Introduction. 

and customs, and dealing with them, not in 
the matter-of-fact style of a chronicler, but 
after the manner of a poet who would fain 
impress his message upon the imagination. 
From the standpoint of pure history this 
would show grievous want of proportion : 
the historical requirements for these patri- 
archal pictures would be little more than 
half a dozen chapters ; why fill thirty-nine ? 
Because the grafting of this epic element 
on to the chronicle is invaluable for the pur- 
pose of forcing home the lesson which lies 
beneath the whole of the Bible record, and 
which the bare record would fail to drive 
home. 

Again, what bare chronicle, what elabo- 
rate history even — told from outside — could 
give the insight into the inner relations 
between God and His people that is afforded 
by the lyrics of the book of Psafrns, or the 
oratory of the book of Deuteronomy ? Each 
one of these literary forms is particularly 
adapted for the purpose to which it is put ; 
and, whether by image or song, episode or 
oration, the main purpose of the book is 
ever being carried out, of revealing the will 
of God to man. The five main literary 
types may be differentiated as History, 



Introduction. xiii 

Lyrics, Philosophy, Prophecy, and Parable ; 
but it will easily be seen that the types are 
apt to approach each other very closely at 
times, and that a work may well manifest 
some of the characteristics of two types. 
The book of Job, for instance, affords ex- 
amples of most of the types, while the Song 
of Solomon does not fall easily within any of 
the classes. Nevertheless, for general pur- 
poses this classification will serve very well. 



CHAPTER I. 



The historical matter in the Bible is both 
great in quantity and various in kind. There 
is, firstly, the historical frame- 
work referred to above, which ^^ 
runs through the whole volume 
and must be distinguished from the epic 
incidents. The book of Genesis opens with 
the barest chronicle of the beginnings of the 
world and some few epic* incidents merged 
in it, such as the Fall, the death of Abel, 
the Flood, and the building of the Tower of 
Babel. With the entrance of Abraham 
(chapter xii.) the whole character of the 
narrative changes: cycles of 

. . .. - Epic incidents. 

stones, centering in Abraham, 
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, take the place ol 
the chronicle, and from this point onward 
the epic element is predominant. A few 

* The word " epic " must not be confused with " fiction " : it 
merely implies that the events are told in a manner that appeals 
to imagination and sympathy, and not, like history, merely to 
the sense of record. 



1 6 The Bible as Literature. 

instances will suffice to make this plain. Be- 
tween verses 6 and 7 of Exodus i., a period 
elapses sufficient to permit of the Hebrew 
tribe reaching the proportions of a menacing 
foe, and yet there is no chronicle extant ot 
the period. Likewise the bulk of the judge- 
ship of Samuel is pressed into three verses 
(1 Sam. vii. 15-17), and the long reigns of 
Jeroboam II. and Uzziah have each to be con- 
tent with seven verses (2 Kings xiv. 23-29; 
xv. 1-7). In face of this it can scarcely 
be maintained that the historical books of 
the Bible are more than an historical frame- 
work with epic incidents merged in them. 
Of the vividness of many of these epic inci- 
dents it is hard to speak too strongly; and 
the effect is heightened when, as in the story 
of Balaam, prose gives place to verse at each 
successive climax. 

The third element of the historical litera- 
ture of the Bible is what may be styled either 
ecclesiastical or constitutional 

Ecclesiastical 

orconstitu- history. Not that the terms 

tional historv. 

are ordinarily interchangeable, 
but the peculiar character of the Hebrew 
state renders them so. Israel had no law 
save its Mosaic code, no constitution save 
that of its church, and hence its ecclesiastical 



History. 1 7 

history is constitutional, and its constitutional 
ecclesiastical. To this class belong a con- 
siderable portion of Exodus and Numbers 
and practically all of Leviticus, which deal 
with the minute regulations laid down for the 
performance of duties towards man and to- 
wards God. The books of Chronicles, if not 
so completely ecclesiastical in their subject 
matter, are thoroughly so in their treatment ; 
and in like manner the books of Ezra and 
Nehemiah deal with the history of the church 
as restored after the Exile. The Gospels may, 
in a sense, be placed in this class also, for 
they are historical, but at the same time they 
are prophetic, because embodying, in the 
highest degree, the divine message which 
constitutes the essence of prophecy. 



CHAPTER II. 

LYRIC LITERATURE. 

In dealing with the lyric literature of the 
Bible we are immediately faced by the diffi- 
culty which arises from the different criteria 
for verse in Hebrew and in English. We 
are accustomed to associate distinct and more 
or less regular meter with verse, and in ordi- 
nary parlance we make no distinction between 
poetry and verse. Now, for the apprecia- 
tion of the literary forms of the Bible both 
these preconceived ideas must be abandoned. 
To take the smaller question first, poetry is 
not dependent for its existence upon meter 
or rhythm or any characteristic of external 
form, but signifies primarily a creation, as 
distinguished from mere discussion of what 
already exists. Thus poetry may be pure 
fiction or it may be based upon a foundation 
of fact, worked upon by the imagination; but 
in either case it is differentiated by its spirit 
and not by its form. The distinction between 
Hebrew verse and English verse is more es- 



\ 



Lyric Literature. 19 

sential for our purpose, as we shall look in 
vain in the Bible for verse after the English 
pattern, since Hebrew verse is distinguished 
from prose not by syllabic meter but by 
structural parallelism. 

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, 

And light unto my path. 

This often has the effect of much weaken- 
ing the distinction between prose and verse, 
in that parallelism is a recognized feature in 
the rhetorical prose of all languages, and the 
study of the particular passage as a whole 
must be depended upon for making clear 
whether it is to be regarded as prose or 
verse. 

The lyrics of the Bible fall under six main 
heads, the Song of Solomon forming a 
seventh and standing by itself. 

First maybe considered the elegies: though 
here as elsewhere care must be taken 
not to associate with the idea the 
same strictness which we associate with ele- 
giacs in Latin. The Hebrew elegy, at first a 
dirge or lament, ultimately loses this exclu- 
sive character and comes to be the expression 
of powerful emotion of any kind. Of elegies 
in the stricter sense the most notable exam- 
ples are the lamentations of Jeremiah, David's 



20 The Bible as Literature. 

lament over Saul (2 Sam. i.) and Psalm 
cxxxvii. 

Hymns of worship are, of course, largely 
represented in the Bible, and present con- 
siderable variety both in form and matter. 
They may be classified under the heads of 
general thanksgiving, specific thanksgiving, 
and private meditations. The third class is 

naturally the least elaborate in 
worsh? ° f form ; or, to speak more accurately, 

the form has an elaborateness of 
its own, acrostics — e.g., Psalm cxix. — taking 
the place of the antiphonal singing which was 
so prominent a feature of Jewish worship 
from the days of Moses and Miriam, Deborah 
and Barak, onwards. Of perfectly general 
thanksgivings the final section of the book of 
Psalms (cxlv.-cl. ) may serve as a typical ex- 
ample ; to which may be added the twin 
psalms, so to speak, both singing of ever- 
watchful providence in the sphere of hu- 
man life (ciii.) and external nature (civ.). 
The Songs of Ascents (cxx.-cxxxiv. ) must be 
classed among the specific thanksgivings, as 
having reference to pilgrimages or other spe- 
cific occasions, although there is no trace of 
agreement among scholars as to the precise 
signification of the title. Psalm cxviii. evi- 



Lyric Literature. 21 

dently has reference to some special visit to 
the temple, and seems to take the form of 
dialogue, as the subjoined arrangement will 
suggest. 

PSALM CXVIII. 

The Worshipper and His Escort approach the 
Temple. 

Tutti. O give thanks unto the Lord ; for he 

is good : 
For his mercy endureth forever. 
Worshipper. Let Israel now say — 
Escort. That his mercy endureth forever. 

Worshipper. Let the house of Aaron now say — 
Escort. That his mercy endureth forever. 

Worshipper. Let them now that fear the Lord 

say — 
Escort. That his mercy endureth forever. 

Worshipper. Out of my distress I called upon the 

Lord : 
The Lord answered me, and set me 

in a large place. 
The Lord is on my side, I will not 

fear: 
What can man do unto me ? 
The Lord is on my side with them 

that help me : 
Therefore shall I see my desire upon 

them that hate me. 

Escort. It is better to trust in the Lord 

Than to put confidence in man ; 



The Bible as Literature. 



It is better to trust in the Lord 
Than to put confidence in princes. 

Worshipper. All nations compassed me about : 
Escort. In the name of the Lord I will cut 

them off ! 
Worshipper. They compassed me about ; 

Yea, they compassed me about : 
Escort. In the name of the Lord I will cut 

them off! 
Worshipper. They compassed me about like bees ; 
They are quenched as the fire of 

thorns : 
Escort. In the name of the Lord I will cut 

them off! 

Worshipper. Thou didst thrust sore at me that I 

might fall : 
But the Lord helped me. 
The Lord is my strength and song ; 
And he is become my salvation. 
The voice of rejoicing and salvation 

is in the tents of the righteous : 
The right hand of the Lord doeth 

valiantly. 
Escort. The right hand of the Lord is exalted : 

The right hand of the Lord doeth 

valiantly. 
Worshipper. I shall not die, but live, 

And declare the works of the Lord. 
The Lord hath chastened me sore : 
But he hath not given me over unto 

death. 
Open to me the gates of righteous- 



Lyric Literature. 23 

I will enter into them, 

I will give thanks unto the Lord. 

The Temple Gates open and disclose a Chorus of 

Priests. 
Priests. This is the Gate of the Lord : 

The righteous shall enter into it. 

Worshipper. I will give thanks unto thee, for thou 
hast answered me, 
And art become my salvation. 
The stone which the builders re- 
jected 
Is become the head of the corner. 
Escort. This is the Lord's doing ; 

It is marvelous in our eyes. 
This is the day which the Lord hath 

made ; 
We will rejoice and be glad in it. 
Save now, we beseech thee, O Lord : 
O Lord, we beseech thee, send now 
prosperity. 

The Worshipper enters the Temple : the Escort pre- 
pare to retire. 
Priests {to the Worshipper) . 

Blessed be he that entereth in the 
name of the Lord ! 
{to the Escort retiring). 

We have blessed you out of the 
house of the Lord ! 

Priests. The Lord is God, and he hath given 

us light : 
Bind the sacrifice with cords, even 
unto the horns of the altar. 



24 The Bible as Literature. 

Worshipper. Thou art my God, and I will give 
thanks unto thee : 
Thou art my God, I will exalt thee. 

Tutti. O give thanks unto the Lord ; for 

he is good : 
For his mercy endureth forever. 

One more example must be quoted because 
of its perfect rhythmic structure, and that 
is Psalm cvii. , the Song of the Redeemed. 
The psalm has an invocation (verses 1-3), 
an epilogue (verses 33-42), and four sec- 
tions, each closing with the refrain, "Oh, 
that men would praise the Lord for his 
goodness and for his wonderful works to the 
children of men," a further commentary be- 
ing added in each case to suit the experience 
which has just been described. But on closer 
examination it will be seen that the four 
sections, verses 4-9, 10-16, 17-22, 23-32, 
do not simply answer each other after the 
manner of strophe and anti-strophe, for the 
first and fourth go together and the second 
and third. In other words, the thought- 
rhythm of the sections — as is the case in 
the meter of Tennyson's In Menioriam — is 
a b b a, not a b a b. The first and fourth 
tell of misfortune and restoration, the second 
and third of rebellion, discipline, and resto* 



Lyric Literature. 25 

ration when the discipline has done its work. 
The various odes* upon special occasions 
which are found in the Bible do not differ 
perhaps essentially from the 

. Odes upon 

hymns of worship noticed special oc- 

casions. 

above, except that they are not 
composed primarily from the standpoint 
of worship. To take a modern paral- 
lel : the opening stanzas of Ln Memoriam 
are often included in hymn* books of the pres- 
ent day, and very appropriately, too; but this 
is not, of course, a hymn in the same sense 
as those among which it is found, being, 
rather, a special ode. Of these Biblical odes 
those that naturally occur first to the mind 
are the various Songs of Deliverance, such as 
the Song of Deborah {Judges v.), the Song of 
Moses and Miriam {Exodus xv. ), David's 
Song of Thanksgiving (2 Sam. xxii. ; Psalm 
xviii. ) , and Psalms xlvi. and xlviii. , both 01 
which may very possibly have reference to 
the destruction of the host of Sennacherib. 
Other odes may be associated with specific 
ceremonies ; for example, there is much to 
suggest that Psalms xxiv., xxx., lxviii., and 
cxxxii. all formed part of the actual — or a 



* The " ode " is not a definite term ; but is used for song in 
its highest form. 



26 The Bible as Literature. 

commemorative — ceremonial of bringing the 
ark to Jerusalem. As occasional odes of 
a private, not national, character may be 
mentioned the Song of Hannah (i Sam. ii. ), 
the Song of Habakkuk (Had. iii. ), and the 
Songs of Mary, Zacharias, and Simeon 
(Luke i. and ii. ). 

Of drama, in the strict sense of the word, 
there is none in the Bible, but there are 
numerous lyrics which are essentially dra- 
matic in character, in that they represent 
changes of situation, which, however, are not 
related from without in the form of a narra- 
tive, but unfold themselves. This will be il- 
lustrated by an analysis of Psalm 
kdcT atlc cxxxix. In the opening verses 
the psalmist is oppressed with the 
sense of the omniscience and omnipresence 
of God ; he would fain escape, but he knows 
not whither to go for he finds God every- 
where. And as the natural world is laid bare 
to the eye of God, so is man's inner nature, 
not one single element coming into existence 
without His knowledge, nor continuing to 
exist -without His watchful care. This ' ' ob- 
verse side of omniscience," so to speak, cre- 
ates a revulsion of feeling, so strong that the 
psalmist, instead of regarding God as a 



±- 



Lyric Literature. 27 

rigid taskmaster, proclaims himself His ally, 
and the psalm, which opened with half-petu- 
lant, "Lord, thou hast searched me," ends 
with an eager, "Search me, O God." 

Under the title ' ' Historical Odes ' ' are in- 
cluded those lyrics — e. g. , Psalms lxxviii. , cv. , 
and cvi. and Deuteronomy xxxii. 
—which give, as it were, a bird's- 5S° ricaI 
eye view of the national history, 
and constitute an appeal to the nation to re- 
view the past in the interest of the present 
and the future. This poetic presentation of 
history naturally allows of great latitude in 
the matter of detail. Psalms cv. and cvi. 
present an intelligible sequence of events to the 
end of the wanderings, or perhaps to the cap- 
tivity, and Psalm lxxviii. does the same, bring- 
ing the history down to the days of David. 
In Psalm lxxviii. the history is presented in a 
rhythmic succession of manifestations of hu- 
man frailty followed by divine interposition. In 
Deuteronomy xxxii., on the other hand, the 
knowledge of the historical facts is assumed, 
and the ode is a philosophical reflection upon 
them. To this a fine parallel is to be seen in 
Mr. Matthew Arnold's Obermann Once 
More. 

Separate from the above must be considered 



28 The Bible as Literature. 

odes like Genesis xxvii. 27-29, 39-40, Deuter- 
onomy xxxiii., and the prophecies 
Prophetic f B a i aam i n Numbers xxii.-xxiv. 
They partake somewhat of the 
nature of oracular responses, with the neces- 
sary difference which must arise from the cir- 
cumstances of their origin. They are often 
riddles, but the element of obscurity and 
ambiguity is incidental rather than essential; 
and the blessing of Moses and the orations 
of Balaam do not confine themselves to the 
foretelling of the future, but also give counsel 
for the present. 

Of the Song of Solomon it is extremely 

difficult to speak with any confidence, either 

as to its meaning or its literary 

l^iJwn. ° f *" orm - It: nas a lar g e lyfe element, 
and it presents the main charac- 
teristic of dramatic poetry, namely, story un- 
folded in dialogue and action; and yet it is 
neither an ode nor a drama of the ordinary 
kind. There is not any opportunity here of 
discussing the structure of the book in detail, 
and no more can be said than that the 
theory which presents fewest difficulties is 
that which regards it as a series of pictures, 
or idyls, all having their center in the wooing 
of a certain Shulammite; but whether she is 



Lyric Literature. 29 

wooed by a humble lover, who has King 
Solomon for his rival, or by King Solomon, 
under the disguise of a humble lover, cannot 
be argued here.* 

* For this and for so many other knotty points in connection 
with this subject, reference should be made to Dr. R. G. 
Moulton's forthcoming Literary Study of the Bible (D. C. 
Heath & Co., Boston). 



CHAPTER III. 

PHILOSOPHY. 

Although this branch of Bible literature 
has perfectly distinct characteristics of its 
own, it is far from easy to find at all a satis- 
factory name for it. By "philosophy" is 
generally denoted the sum total of the laws 
which govern mental, moral, and physical 
existence, those laws being first arrived at by 
observation and then reduced to system, the 
term ' ' science ' ' being more commonly, 
though not exclusively, used when dealing 
with the phenomena of physical existence. 
What biology is to physical life the wisdom 
literature of the Bible is to moral life ; it 
states and systematizes the dictates of moral- 
ity. It differs from prophecy in not pre- 
tending to the solemnity of a divine message, 
but only embodying the reflections of the wise. 
The germ from which the whole of this 
species of literature is developed 
is the proverb, or wise saying. 
Its form is usually that of a couplet, the 



The proverb. 



Philosophy. 31 

second section of which reaffirms the first, 
either directly or by contrast, e. g.: 

a. The liberal soul shall be made fat, 

And he that watereth shall be watered also him- 
self. (Prov. xi. 25.) 

b. He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it, 
But he that hateth suretiship is sure. 

(Prov. xi. 15.) 

It is worthy of note that the vast majority 
of the Biblical proverbs are in the form of a 
couplet, as above, whereas in English the 
tendency is just the other way. This must 
be put down to that Hebrew predilection for 
parallelism which has been referred to al- 
ready. Sometimes the couplet takes the 
form of a simile, thus presenting two or 
more sets of ideas instead of only one, e. g.: 

As snow in summer and as rain in harvest, 
So honour is not seemly for a fool. 

(Prov. xxvi. i.) 

Between the simple proverb-couplet and 
the essay must be noticed the proverb-cluster 
and the expanded proverb. Both Proverb . 
differ from the simple proverb in ^ U pand?d d 
their tendency towards system- P roverb - 
atized thought. In the proberb-cluster 
(unlike the essay) it is always possible 
to conceive of a portion of the matter 



32 The Bible as Literature. 

being removed without a gap being nec- 
essarily discernible in the general sense 
of the passage. An example may be seen 
in Proverbs xxvi. 3-12, a cluster of sayings 
on Fools. Expanded proverbs of a very 
rhythmic type are to be found among the 
words of Agur ( Prov. xxx. ) . And if ' 'three' ' 
be read for "them" in xxx. 7 — as is re- 
quired not only by the parallelism with the 
other clusters but also by the fact of three 
things, not two, being specified — the balance 
is most perfect : 

Two things have I asked of thee : 
Deny me not three before I die : 
Remove far from me vanity and lies : 
Give me neither poverty nor riches : 
Feed me with the food that is needful for me, 
Lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is 
the Lord ? 
Or lest I be poor and steal, 
And use profanely the name of my God. 

The species of wisdom literature which has 
been styled ' ' essay ' ' must be compared, not 
with the highly elaborated essays of Lord 
Macaulay, but rather with the dissertations 
which form the chapters of Thomas a Kempis's 
De Imitatione Christ i, or with the essays of 
Francis Bacon, concerning which the author 
says : ' ' They of all my other workes, have 



*_ 



Philosophy. 33 

beene most currant : For that, as it seemes, 
they come home, to Men's Busi- 
nesse and Bosomes. " The Biblical 
essay differs from the proverb-cluster in 
the strong organic union which character- 
izes the former, every clause contributing 
its own essential portion to the argument. 
As an example take St. James ii. 1-13: On 
Respect of Persons. 

But this section of Biblical literature is 
peculiarly incapable of being studied apart 
from actual examples; and as the examples 
are naturally too long for quotation, the vari- 
ous books in which the ' ' wisdom ' ' of the 
Bible is embodied must receive some indi- 
vidual attention.* Unlike the other literary 
types the ' ' wisdom ' ' of the Bible is almost 
exclusively contained in a few books instead 
of being distributed among many, those 
books being Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the 
Epistle of St. James, and apocryphal books 
of Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom. 

Each of these books has its own characteris- 
tics. In the book of Proverbs the maxims are, 
as the title suggests, mostly in the simple form, 

* Macmillan & Co. announce a series of books of wisdom 
{Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus, Ecclesiastes, with Wisdom of Solo- 
mon and Job) : each of the four published in a separate volume, 
edited in modern literary form by Professor R. G. Moulton. 



34 The Bible as Literature. 

even proverb-clusters being few in number ; in- 
deed, the only passages showing any consid- 
erable degree of elaboration are the dramatic 
monologues in which wisdom personified 
makes her appeal to the sons of men (i. 20- 
33 ; viii. 4-36). 

Ecclesiasticus resembles Proverbs in that 
the maxims contained in them both 
are those which bear upon the ordinary, 
practical matters of daily life. But in the 
apocryphal book essays and proverb-clus- 
ters to a great extent supplant the simple 
proverb; and it moreover presents a new ele- 
ment in the oration upon the works of the 
Lord (xlii. 15-xliii. ), and the well-known 
Panegyric upon Famous Men, from Enoch to 
Simon, son of Onias (xliv.-l. 24). Ecclesi- 
astes opens up anew phase of "wisdom," for 
throughout it attempts to arrive at what is 
scarcely hinted at in the above-mentioned 
works — a philosophy of life as a whole ; and 
the single maxims and the essays alike are 
only introduced as contributions towards the 
formation of that philosophy. 

The book of Wisdom shares with Ecclesi- 
astes the characteristic of being an effort to- 
wards a philosophy of life as a whole; though 
the standpoint is different, and the maxims 



Philosophy. 35 

find expression in sustained discourses instead 
of a series of sorrowful or indignant outbursts. 
But with chapter x. comes a very marked 
change, and for the remainder of the book 
wisdom personified, very much in our sense 
of Providence, is pictured as watching over 
the successive stages of the history of the 
chosen people, the narrative repeatedly going 
off into digressions, one of which — the dis- 
course on the folly of idolatry (chapter xiii.- 
xv. ) — is particularly full of literary beauty. 
The wonderful imaginative power of this 
book will best be realized by comparisons of 
its treatment of topics with the treatment of 
the same topics in other writings. Take, for 
example, the favorite Jewish problem of the 
righteous in adversity as dealt with in Psalm 
lxxiii., and then turn to Wisdom v. where 
the inmost hearts of the arrogant are un- 
veiled. A similar comparison may with ad- 
vantage be instituted between the story of 
the plague of darkness as given in Exodus 
x. 21^23 and in Wisdom xvii. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PROPHECY. 

It may be conceded at once that the pro- 
phetic literature of the Bible belongs to a 
type which has no direct analogy in modern 
literature, and which is differentiated by its 
matter — and by only one characteristic of 
that — and not by its form. The great essen- 
tial feature which marks off Biblical prophecy 
from all other writings is that it is the direct 
embodiment of the divine message, spoken 
' ' in divers portions and in divers manners 
through the prophets." That the possible 
varieties of literary form in this branch are 
few will easily be realized, but the body of 
prophetic writings is second to none in im- 
portance and in force. 

At the very outset prophecy falls into two 

main sections, following the two distinct 

meanings of the Greek word from 

Jf7ro P p h hec e > s . which it is derived. The Greek 

conception of a prophet was of a 

man who interpreted the will of the gods to 



Prophecy. 37 

men; and, as the message so often told con- 
cerning the future, the modern meaning of the 
word crept in beside the original, but the 
essence of the prophet's function was "forth- 
telling," rather than "foretelling." The 
Elizabethan use of "prophesying," as syn- 
onymous with "preaching," reflects the 
same ambiguity. Thus Biblical prophecy 
falls under the two heads of preaching and 
prediction, the two being at times so close 
as to be incapable of separation, though at 
others they are perfectly distinct. The 
preaching of righteousness, which 
was always so important an element ^pV^Se? 
in the prophet's mission, finds its 
prototype in the magnificent orations of 
Moses as given in Deuteronomy (i. 6 to 
iv. 40; v. 1. to xi. 32 ; xxviii; xxix. 2 to 
xxxi. 8.); but the same class of inspired 
rhetoric is to be found in all the books asso- 
ciated with the names of the prophets. But 
prophetic utterances are very far from being 
all cast alike in this simple mould. Some take 
the form of dialogues, others are contained 
in dreams, visions, or parables — these last are 
so characteristic a mode of expressing thought 
in Hebrew literature as to call for sep- 
arate treatment. Others, as the message of 



38 The Bible as Literature. 

Joel, call into requisition several literary 
forms, the better to enforce the word of the 
Lord. The prophecy of Joel opens with a 
dramatic lyric depicting the desolation of the 
land and the impending doom. A trumpet- 
blast announces that the day of the Lord has 
come, and His vengeance is working through 
the agency of the nations, when, by a sudden 
transition (ii. 12), an opportunity for re- 
pentance is held forth : ' ' Who knoweth 
whether he will not turn and repent, and 
leave a blessing behind him. ' ' The oppor- 
tunity is seized, a solemn assembly is con- 
vened, and amid national humiliation the 
Lord is besought to have mercy upon His 
people. Then follows the restoration of the 
nation to favor, with assurances of renewed 
worldly prosperity. But the restoration is 
not to stop at the point of giving back what 
had been lost: Israel is told again of a lofty 
spiritual mission lying before it, and again 
the "day of the Lord" is spoken of, no 
longer, however, as a terror to Israel, but as 
the season when it shall reap the harvest of 
the gentiles. Such a production as the 
message of Joel is far too irregular and abrupt 
in its transitions to admit of its being classi- 
fied under any of the recognized literary 



Prophecy. 39 

forms ; it bears the same relation to them as 
Liszt's rhapsodies do to Beethoven's sonatas. 
The book of Joel partakes essentially of the 
two characteristics of prophecy: the prophet 
has his message for the present, 
and it does its work; but he has Js^eTener! 
also his message concerning the 
future, both of Israel and of the other nations 
of the earth. A great proportion of this sec- 
tion of prophetic literature is occupied with 
messages of judgment against the various 
nations which had oppressed Israel, but 
Israel itself does not all escape without its 
own portion of denunciation. It must also 
be remembered that the books of the prophets 
contain a large element of history, introduced 
mainly for the purpose of making logically 
intelligible the messages which are sent. 



CHAPTER V. 

PARABLE. 

One of the most noticeable of the general 
characteristics of Hebrew literature is the 
predilection manifested for imparting and re- 
ceiving instruction by picture, image, and 
parable; and the amount and variety of litera- 
ture of this class is so great as to justify 
its being treated by itself, although there 
must of necessity be some overlapping be- 
tween this and the other classes that have 
been noticed. That this wealth of image- 
literature is due to a permanent mental char- 
acteristic is not only shown by its profusion, 
but also by its appearing when, most of all, 
direct speech was to be expected. To quote 
two well-known examples : when Nathan is 
sent to reprove David for his sin he comes 
with a parable upon his lips; and when 
Ahijah is sent to acquaint Jeroboam of the 
dignity in store for him he delivers his 
message in an acted parable, tearing his 
new cloak into twelve pieces and giving 
Jeroboam ten of them. 



Parable. 41 

This class of literature falls naturally into 
three classes: the parable, the prophetic 
vision, and the book of Job. 
About the ordinary parable little 
need be said, for the teaching of Jesus has 
made it one of the most familiar of all literary 
forms. It is a mistake, however, to regard 
the parable as at all an exclusively New Testa- 
ment method of instruction. The parable of 
the trees (Judges, ix.), of the ewe-lamb 
(2 Samuel, xii. ), of the vineyard (Isaiah, v.), 
may be cited as examples of Old Testament 
parables. 

Far more complicated is the literature 
which falls under the head of prophetic 
visions. A moment's thought 
will bring to mind instances of vS& tic 
prophetic messages given, not in 
the form of direct address, but in dreams and 
visions of the night, all taking parabolic shape. 
It was by such parabolic vision that Peter 
was prepared for the great lesson he had to 
learn concerning the gentiles (Acts x. 9-16), 
and it was by the interpretation of such 
visions that Both Joseph and Daniel rose to 
positions of influence in their respective 
courts. Slightly different from these visions 
and yet belonging to the same class is what 



42 The Bible as Literature. 

may be styled "emblem prophecy," the 
teaching of a lesson not by an imaginary 
picture but by reference to a visible object 
serving as text. Under the Old Testament 
dispensation the ceremonial of the scapegoat 
was a living parable, which will serve as an 
example of this medium for prophetic in- 
struction ; other examples are to be found in 
the girdle (Jer. xiii. ), the baskets of figs (Jer. 
xxiv. ), and Hosea's domestic grief (Hosea 
i.-iii.). 

The classification of the book of Job among 
the parables of the Bible involves no assump- 
tion as to the historic reality — or otherwise — of 
the facts narrated. Whichever 
job bo ° k ° f °pi n i° n be adopted the book re- 
mains a dramatized parable, with 
just enough of an epic element to serve as a 
kind of frame. The great problem of suffer- 
ing innocence, treated reflectively in Psalm 
lxxiii., imaginatively in Wisdom v., is here 
treated dramatically with all the various ele- 
ments of interest — character, action, back- 
ground — which drama contributes. Here it 
will only be possible to point out how the 
book contains specimens of almost all the 
literary types which have been described 
above. There is first the epic element, which 



Parable. 



43 



tells of Job as a man who as much excels his 
fellows in piety as he does in worldly pros- 
perity. Upon this man there falls the hand 
of adversity, and almost at one blow he is 
bereft of family and goods and all that made 
life bright to him. Then, after a dirge in 
which he bemoans his lot and curses the day 
of his birth, his friends come to comfort him, 
and their advent inaugurates what may be 
entitled the philosophical element of the book. 
They come armed with the traditional theory 
that misfortune and suffering were always the 
punishment for sin — a theory which survived 
in the gospel age {John ix. 2) — and the keen, 
almost angry, discussion around this point 
forms the major part of the book. Epic and 
lyric elements in the book have already been 
noticed, and in this section there is lofty 
rhetoric as well as philosophy. Then, when 
Elihu had stated with vehemence the same 
theory in a modified form, "the Lord an- 
swered Job out of the whirlwind." It is 
not the least remarkable feature of this re- 
markable book that the final pronouncement 
on the great central question at issue is so 
utterly out of harmony with traditional Jew- 
ish opinion: for it is Job, and not his friends, 
who is declared to have said the thing that 



44 The Bible as Literature. 

was right. Finally, in a short epic section, full 
of the peace that follows upon conflict, the nar- 
rative of the first two chapters is taken up ; 
the prosperity of Job returns, his ■ ' latter 
end" is blessed "more than his beginning," 
until at last he dies, " being old and full of 
days. ' ' 



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QUESTIONS. 

i What are the three stages in the history which 
makes the "framework" of Biblical litera- 
ture? 

2 What are the five main literary types recogniz- 

able in the books of Scripture ? Show how 
the book of Job contains literature of more 
than one type. 

3 What is meant by the word " epic " ? Give an 

example of an Epic incident, and an Epic 
Cycle. 

4 How do you explain the fact that certain parts 

of the Bible can be called either Constitu- 
tional or Ecclesiastical History? Do the 
Gospels come under this head ? 

5 Show the distinction between English and Bibli- 

cal verse. Illustrate by quotations. 

6 Give an example of each of the six kinds of 

lyrics in the Bible. 

7 What is the leading interest in Psalm cxviii. as 

a piece of literature ? 

8 Show any special literary feature in Psalm cvii. 

9 Why is Psalm cxxxix. called " dramatic " ? 

io How does "Wisdom literature" differ from 
prophecy ? 

ii Give an example of a "Proverb-cluster" and 
an ' ' Essay, ' ' and show what is the main dif- 
ference between these two literary types. 



48 The Bible as Literature. 

12 What is the chief difference between Eccle- 

siastes and previous books of wisdom ? 

13 Compare accounts of the Plagues of Egypt as 

given in Exodus and in Wisdom. 

14 Explain the meaning of the word "prophecy." 

15 Give the substance of the Oration of Moses in 

Deuteronomy xxviii. 

16 Show the general drift of the book of Joel. 

17 Give examples of parables in the Old Testa- 

ment. 

18 Give an example of a parabolic vision in the 

New Testament. 

19 Explain and illustrate what is meant by " Em- 

blem Prophecy." 

20 Show that more than one view of the mystery 

of affliction falling upon the righteous is 
contained in the book of Job. 



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